Exterior: The exterior of the Millennium Falcon features a cylindrical cockpit mounted to a slanted wall attached to the main body leading to a long cylindric tube reaching to the large gun turret. All around the main body of the large space ship are 12 long slanted tiles serving as the sloped look, and are able to be flipped up for playing within. To the second slanted tiles at the right side is a small turnable dish. right after the third slanted tile is a short cylindric tube with two round, flat tiles serving as vents. To the third slanted tiles after the tube are small dishes serving as the large vents, among as the other two slanted tiles afterwards.

Interior: At the front of the interior of the ship are slopes to let the front tile set down on, leading to the middle turret are two seats set down next to two computers. To the right from looking at the front of the interior are four seats set next to the "Dejarik" board. Following further after the board and seats is a hiding compartment to lay in a minifigure which can later be dropped out. to the left of the hiding compartment is a gun turret that can fit in a minifigure while turning 360 degrees.

Far too many spare parts, I need to check to see there aren't bits missed...

New to me

Construction is really quite good, its the first set I have really enjoyed making for some time, It wasn't the hurried job to get it finished, I usually experience. Nothing surprising or unusual to the construction and the only sticking points are the top sections of the hull and the outside sections that form the sides, these get a bit repetitive, nothing seriously annoying though.

This version of the Millenium Falcon is more of a Play-set, something obvious when you look at the profile of the ship, its very flat base making it perfect for outfitting the inside (I will get my old version out and compare the two of them side by side, but this one seems more pronounced than the older incarnation, I'll update the pics once I have them together)

Ratings

Minifigures: the six figures are nice but unoriginal, Luke and Leia have double sided heads, but thats about the only think mentionable, it would have been nice to have R2 and 3PO in here but by now everyone must have a good few sets of them in their collection so not a big pain. 7/10

Parts: Grey, lots of grey / Gray, lots of tray depending on where you are located there are plenty of parts, nothing overly special, just a couple of nice parts, canopy being the big one, the above white part is new to me. 7/10

Design: I think the design of this falcon while not a UCS challenger by a long chalk it is really good, the way its been made to be very play set like is great 9/10

Playability: This set is perfect for playing, the whole of the inside is open and its pretty well detailed, but has lots of scope for modification, I think its close to the Alien Conquest HQ in terms of playability. 9/10

Price: it is a Star Wars set so it is marked up due to licence but It's a great set and a good size so I'd say its about right 8/10

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Nice review. I think this set is decent, but not great. The shape is flawed, the mandibles are at a wrong angle, etc... At least the interior has a lot of modding space, but that's a flaw in itself, because I know a lot of people would buy this, but not have enough pieces to properly mod it.

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Thanks for this review. Portions of this set are tempting...but not tempting enough as a whole. There are just too many empty areas, exposed structures, and lack of a really stellar new minifig for me to buy it at this price. I'm sure it'll be a hit with people getting into LEGO Star Wars, though.

New to me

Ooh, new to me as well. The height of the studs compared to the plates is unusual. It could be useful.

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Ooh, new to me as well. The height of the studs compared to the plates is unusual. It could be useful.

You guys must not read City reviews or buy City sets; that part has been used in trucks for the past year or two.

As to the set, the thing that really strikes me is the price range. Not that it's necessarily overpriced in any of the currencies, that's not it. It's just that it's a lot of money, period. LEGO released two System Falcons at a $100 USD price range, but this one is significantly more. Even if it was a much better model I wouldn't be any happier, the fact remains that LEGO is trying to go big for what is ultimately a fun toy for little boys. I'm certain that a little boy at the time of the release of the original would've had just as much Star Wars-y fun with the Falcon as a little boy could with the new one, but for much less money. I think getting into $140 range for a playset is exceeding a limit of what parents should want to or have to pay.

Not to mention that this model is fairly ugly and odd looking.

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You guys must not read City reviews or buy City sets; that part has been used in trucks for the past year or two.

As to the set, the thing that really strikes me is the price range. Not that it's necessarily overpriced in any of the currencies, that's not it. It's just that it's a lot of money, period. LEGO released two System Falcons at a $100 USD price range, but this one is significantly more. Even if it was a much better model I wouldn't be any happier, the fact remains that LEGO is trying to go big for what is ultimately a fun toy for little boys. I'm certain that a little boy at the time of the release of the original would've had just as much Star Wars-y fun with the Falcon as a little boy could with the new one, but for much less money. I think getting into $140 range for a playset is exceeding a limit of what parents should want to or have to pay.

Not to mention that this model is fairly ugly and odd looking.

Well, it does have eleven years' worth of inflation working against its price; I haven't bothered to look up inflation figures, but off the top of my head I'm inclined to guess $140 in 2011 isn't all that much worse than $100 in 2000.

As far as being "fairly ugly and odd-looking" goes, have you seen the 7190? This one is much, much better than that one, and with a higher piece count, to boot (almost twice as many, in fact).

Edited July 24, 2011 by Blondie-Wan

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Well, it does have eleven years' worth of inflation working against its price; I haven't bothered to look up inflation figures, but off the top of my head I'm inclined to guess $140 in 2011 isn't all that much worse than $100 in 2000.

I do not believe it works that way at all. Looking at LEGO prices over the years, today's prices are not any higher relative to their pieces counts than they ever were, and so this set would note have been any less expensive in 2000. The point is that LEGO is designing sets on a larger and larger scale with higher and higher piece counts, and they do not need to be doing so, at least in this case. It just seems like too far up the price scale.

I own 7190, but I suppose that since I was just a happy consumer at the time and not very critical, it didn't strike me as so ugly. The fact that it has a rounded underside is a plus, though it's an entirely unstable model. Personally, I think the last Falcon looked better.

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I don't care if this is the best/worst system scale lego falcon, it will be my first and i will enjoy it (But i'll try to mod the bottom, take away these red flickys if my son let me and fill the rooms).

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I want this set so that it can sit at the foot of my UCS Millennium Falcon (whenever I get around to building it; everything is still in it's original packaging) but that's a lot to pay...I've got other sets higher up in my priority list.

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You guys must not read City reviews or buy City sets; that part has been used in trucks for the past year or two.

As to the set, the thing that really strikes me is the price range. Not that it's necessarily overpriced in any of the currencies, that's not it. It's just that it's a lot of money, period. LEGO released two System Falcons at a $100 USD price range, but this one is significantly more. Even if it was a much better model I wouldn't be any happier, the fact remains that LEGO is trying to go big for what is ultimately a fun toy for little boys. I'm certain that a little boy at the time of the release of the original would've had just as much Star Wars-y fun with the Falcon as a little boy could with the new one, but for much less money. I think getting into $140 range for a playset is exceeding a limit of what parents should want to or have to pay.

Not to mention that this model is fairly ugly and odd looking.

No, I don't.

Agreed. I think the $120 price point is about as high as you can go without crossing the line between average kid's Christmas present and average AFOL's treat to himself. This set is stuck in the no-man's land where it's too expensive for the kids and not detailed and/or special enough for the AFOLs.

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This should satisfy those who've been crying out for a new System scale Falcon. It doesn't look much different from 4504 to me, but there are undoubtedly some tweaks. It's certainly much better than 7190 which is ugly as sin, however.

I'll save you all my moaning about this being about the 6th Falcon in the 12 years of LEGO Star Wars (the seventh if we're counting bag charms) and how I'd rather they'd given us something new than a remake.....

Whoops - looks like I said it anyway.

;-)

Cheers,

D.

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I'll save you all my moaning about this being about the 6th Falcon in the 12 years of LEGO Star Wars (the seventh if we're counting bag charms) and how I'd rather they'd given us something new than a remake.....

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This should satisfy those who've been crying out for a new System scale Falcon. It doesn't look much different from 4504 to me, but there are undoubtedly some tweaks. It's certainly much better than 7190 which is ugly as sin, however.

I agree. I wasn't collecting LEGO for the UCS Falcon, so missed out and am not willing to pay the current eBay prices. I think it looks better than either 7190 or 4504. Now I am collecting it was the glaringly obvious gap in my collection so I was grateful for the release. It looks good, my son enjoyed playing with it, there was a good selection of mini figures (though I thought Vader was an odd choice - but I already own two so others might appreciate him more) and it was a fun build. Thumbs up from me.

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I agree with Clone O'Patra about the price. I hope people don't take it as hypocrisy on my part that I tend to have glowing reactions to Star Wars sets but haven't bought one of my own since 2005. In truth the sets this year come the closest to bringing me back into LEGO Star Wars that any sets have done, and the fact that figs have finally been updated with eye-sparkles and new faces helps (as does the emphasis on Star Wars Episode I, for which I have a lot of nostalgia). But at the same time the prices are still such that I don't intend to get any Star Wars sets this year unless I find them at a considerable discount.

Truth be told, this new Millennium Falcon is beautiful. It's a great improvement aesthetically over the 4504, and really (IMO) better captures the rugged look of the craft, while still having a familiar shape and unified design. The interior is a lot more realistic than either of the previous versions, while still having plenty of play value. The minifigures are excellent in general.

At the same time, the underside is woefully boring, something which afflicts a lot of the lovely vehicle designs this year. It really gives the impression that corners had to be cut to keep the prices down, something I sympathize with-- after all, I definitely wouldn't pay more than the already-exorbitant prices they charge for Star Wars sets just to have the set look prettier from underneath.

Great review! Thanks for taking such great pictures of this set!

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Great review and it's a great set to boot. As for the inside I think it does offer more then the last falcon, the removal of the escape pod, highlights that point. As for the hyper drive, the old one looked cool, but was more akin to something outta Star Trek then Star Wars. The only down side for me was Lego's Q.C. as mine came missing a hinge plate for the top and forcing some part borrowing and swapping until a replacement arrives.

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Just finished mine up last night. I agree it was an enjoyable build, and the new Luke is the best. I had the same parts laying about after I was done as well.....always love extra bits! My only gripe with this version , besides the mandibles....are the gaps in in top / back section. Way TOO wide. (4504 has much smaller gaps.) I do think the overall design of this new one is "light years better" for the most part. I suppose if it sits there staring at me for too long though....I will have to do an overhaul to it.

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Thanks for the great review. I don't care what anyone says, I think it's a great set. I was planning on buying it when I found out it was getting released but the review got me even more excited! Thanks again.

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Thanks for the review. I don't have a system scale Falcon that's 'swooshable' and haven't found a block of time yet to open up and build my UCS Falcon. I'll probably get this for my son and keep the UCS for me.

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Nice review! I picked one up in Berlin last week and completed the build yesterday evening. Without the stickers though, my sheet was completely messed up with stickers all over the inside of the box. I don't understand why, all the sets I've bought the last year (and that where quite a lot) had a separate bag with instructions and stickers, and everything was great, never had to ask Lego for a replacement sheet. But now I had to, can't use any of them. I didn't ask for new instructions, although those where all wrinkled too.

Maybe I'm not that good into Star Wars but I really liked the looks and thought the resemblance with the 'original' is quite good...

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While this set isn't the best-looking, the stability and more kid-friendly interior, coupled with the nice minifigure selection, is what makes this a decent set. I don't want this, but I can certainly see why someone else might.

Edited August 21, 2011 by fallenangel309

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Truth be told, the design of this ship is such that IMHO a system scale LEGO version will always have to make compromises. When you add to this the fact that it's a playset, the likelihood of a set to satisfy the purists is precisely nil. With respect to detail and accuracy I got my fix from the UCS version, so anything after that is going to pale into insignifiance..... This new Falcon is probably a small advance on 4504, but neither of them are really aimed at us AFOLs I suspect.